Calif. Universities Fight To Save Outreach Funds

When she was in middle school, Sandra Casas aspired to go to
college. For her, that meant a community college. It seemed like a
lofty goal. Her mother, who raised her alone, had dropped out of high
school. And money was usually tight.

Then she entered Magnolia High School in Anaheim, Calif., where her
ambitions grew. Encouraged by a state-supported "outreach" program, Ms.
Casas learned which high school classes would get her into a four-year
university. She picked up advice about grants and scholarships targeted
toward households like hers. Her counselor arranged field trips to
campuses in Sonoma, Santa Barbara, and even Berkeley.

Today, four years of higher education doesn't seem so unrealistic.
"I thought, 'I can make it,'" said Ms. Casas, 17, now a senior at
Magnolia, who is Mexican-American. "It instilled confidence in me. I
can be competitive. I have the ability to go to a university."

The Anaheim teenager is one of thousands of California students who
have received academic tutoring, guidance counseling, and other
services through state-financed outreach programs administered through
the University of California and California State University systems.
Those programs, which try to reach economically and educationally
disadvantaged students across the state, have been targeted for
elimination by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Minorities Affected?

The Republican governor has proposed cutting outreach for the UC
system, which has eight undergraduate campuses, in the current fiscal
year from $31.9 million to $19.7 million. The CSU system, with 23
undergraduate campuses, would see its outreach funds reduced from $52
million to $39.5 million. The governor proposes ending outreach funding
to both campus systems entirely in fiscal 2005, which begins July
1.

Even though outreach efforts are not officially directed at racial
or ethnic minorities, supporters say they have been vital to sustaining
diversity at California's public institutions since voters there passed
Proposition 209 in 1996. The measure imposed a statewide ban on race
preferences in public employment, state education and contracting. UC
campus officials decided to modify their outreach programs to comply
with the law, soon after the ballot measure passed; CSU officials said
their outreach program already complied with the law.

Minority students "would be disproportionately affected" by the
proposed elimination of outreach programs, said Winston C. Doby, the
vice president for education outreach for the UC system. "Not only
would you see an enrollment drop, but you would also see students who
come into college needing more remediation."

Because they regard the outreach programs as vital, UC and CSU
officials say they will find ways to absorb any midyear cuts, by
shifting funds from other areas. After that, their outreach programs
may face more dramatic changes, they predict.

History of Outreach

An official from Gov. Schwarzenegger's administration says budget
pain is unavoidable. The new administration inherited a deficit of at
least $15 billion, out of a total state general fund of roughly $78
billion. Reducing outreach, they say, is more feasible than chopping
basic university academic programs.

"The governor looked first at not wanting to impact the core
institutional mission of the universities," said H.D. Palmer, a deputy
director of the California finance department. "Virtually every aspect
of state government is being asked to provide savings," he said.
Pointing to California's ongoing struggles with a deficit, he added:
"The bill's finally come due."

UC and CSU officials say outreach initiatives of one kind or another
have been a fixture on their campuses for decades, but those programs
were revamped and expanded in the late 1990s after the passage of
Proposition 209. University officials made their programs race-neutral,
targeting students who are disadvantaged either through economic or
educational circumstances.

According to a 2003 report commissioned by the UC president, roughly
37 percent of the entering Latino/Chicano freshmen in 2001 in the UC
system from California public high schools had participated in outreach
programs. Roughly the same percentage of entering African-American
students that year had taken part in outreach. For American Indian
freshmen, the rate was 19 percent, while it was 15 percent for
Asian-Americans and 6.5 percent for whites, according to the report,
conducted by an independent panel studying the program.

Today, outreach programs offer students a variety of services, from
academic counseling on college-prep courses to advice on filling out
applications and financial-aid forms. Some programs focus on
professional development for counselors and other staff members who
work with students.

One recipient of such help is Magnolia High counselor Steve
Gonzales. For the past 10 years, Magnolia High has received financial
assistance through the Puente Project, which aims to increase college
opportunities for disadvantaged students and trains high school and
college personnel to help them.

For years, Mr. Gonzales has attended seminars arranged by Puente-one
of a number of UC-affiliated outreach programs- learning strategies on
building relationships with students and encouraging them to consider
college. Today, he helps Puente train other counselors.

Offering Students Options

Mr. Gonzalez coordinates with middle schools that send students to
his high school, identifying incoming 9th graders who might benefit
from Puente's help. Many of the students he identifies have strong
academic records, but the counselor says he looks for those who have
struggled, too.

Mr. Gonzales has heard criticism that outreach programs like his go
after students who would have sought out college anyway. That's a
misperception, he says.

About 60 percent of Magnolia's 1,600 students are Hispanic, he
estimates. Many come from families in which neither parent went to
college. Some of the students mistakenly believe financial aid is not
available to them; others underestimate their ability to gain admission
to four-year schools. One senior he's worked with, Ms. Casas, said
she's shed those doubts. She hopes to gain admission to UC-Berkeley,
though she's applied to other four- year California colleges, too.

Throughout the year, Mr. Gonzales meets one- on- one with Puente
students and advises them on classes needed to meet college- admission
requirements. There's a heavy emphasis on preparing for college- level
reading and writing, especially for freshmen and sophomores.

While Puente receives funding through the UC system, it does not
send students only to those campuses, said Christopher M. Rivers, the
Oakland-based organization's publications manager. Students also go on
to other public schools, as well as private institutions and community
colleges.

UC and CSU officials say they hope to convince lawmakers to fund
their outreach programs next fiscal year, though they admit their
chances are uncertain.

Mr. Palmer, the state official, says the governor is committed to
helping college-bound students in other ways. Gov. Schwarzenegger has
proposed allowing high school students who have been accepted by either
the UC or CSU systems can to receive free tuition at any state
community college, and later attend a public, four-year university.

"For too long, community colleges have been viewed as the stepchild
of the higher education system," Mr. Palmer said. "The governor does
not believe that's fair."

The budget cuts in California are threatening MESA, an "academic enrichment
program" that has "supported educationally disadvantaged students so
they can excel in math and science studies and graduate with
baccalaureate degrees in math-based fields." Read more about the
MESA program, or
read MESA's argument against the
proposed cuts.

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